Turkeys are also very smart and have distinct personalities. People used
to write off fish as being unfeeling "lower" animals but we now know, also
based on solid scientific research, that they are sentient and feel pain
(see also). The more we study other animals the more we learn about how
complex their lives are, even for animals previously thought to be unfeeling
creatures.

Why kill turkeys to celebrate Thanksgiving?

Many of you have heard this question over and over again, "Why kill
turkeys to celebrate Thanksgiving?" They say repetition is boring
conversation but I feel it's essential to ask this question repeatedly,
because there really is no reason at all to slaughter and to eat these
fascinating sentient beings in the name of a holiday, and turkeys surely are
sentient beings. Dr. Ian Duncan, a world-renowned expert on the behavior of
food animals notes, based on detailed scientific research, "It is
indisputable that poultry are capable of feeling pain. All poultry species
are sentient vertebrates and all the available evidence shows that they have
a very similar range of feelings as mammalian species. Poultry can suffer by
feeling pain, fear, and stress."

Turkeys are also very smart and have distinct personalities. People used
to write off fish as being unfeeling "lower" animals but we now know, also
based on solid scientific research, that they are sentient and feel pain
(see also). The more we study other animals the more we learn about how
complex their lives are, even for animals previously thought to be unfeeling
creatures.

There's no reason to consume pain and misery: Would you kill and eat your
dog?

Holidays should be times for deep reflection. So, please reflect on these
facts. More than 45 million turkeys are killed every Thanksgiving. More than
300 million are killed annually. Before they are mercilessly slaughtered
individuals are kept in the most inhumane conditions, on the floors of dark,
filthy sheds, houses of horrors, where they walk through their own
excrement, breathe ammonia-filled air, and are cramped together so tightly
they can't move or get away from one another. As a result there are numerous
fights among normally peaceful individuals and they suffer from massive
injuries and a wide variety of diseases that humans consume.

Furthermore, when one eats a turkey carcass they are eating a genetically
engineered animal and also consuming pain and misery. To keep turkeys from
injuring one another their toes and beaks are cut off with hot blades with
no anesthetic or analgesic, and when their throat is slit many are still
conscious. We know chickens feel empathy and there is every reason to
believe that turkeys do too. I know no one would treat their dog like
turkeys are treated from birth to their heinous road to death.

There are numerous very tasty non-animal alternatives and even if you
don't think they're as yummy as a dead bird is it really asking too much to
give up something that isn't a necessary part of your diet? I don't think
so.

Animals shouldn't be used as token objects of joyous festivities

In order to make changes in the way we live, including who, not what, we
eat, we occasionally need to leave our comfort zones. By not turning a blind
eye to the incredible suffering that turkeys experience and choosing to
forgo eating them, you can add more compassion to the world. You can even
adopt a turkey. I urge everyone to try to make this incredibly simple change
right now, for this coming holiday and for future celebrations in which
animals are consumed as mere token objects of the festivities. I can't
imagine you wouldn't feel better about yourself. Thank you very much for
trying.

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